Wood Drying Vacuum VS Silica Gel

This video is about Wood Drying Vacuum VS Silica Gel rcwarshpp: Vacuum drying wood might be worth a go since you have a vacuum pump & chamber. I just finished running an experiment and found that it doesn't work worth a darn until you add heat. I use a pressure cooker & have a 40 watt bulb inside. Gets it plenty warm, had a couple blocks (3 1/4" square by 6") green freshly cut ash dry in 4 days. Pulled off 2 or 3 cups of water.....amazing. Had to reapply vacuum 3 or 4 times daily since the water boiled off & was pulled out by the vacuum pump.....or my pressure cooker setup leaks. The vacuum pump oil will need changing out on a regular basis since it gets full o'crap. Thanks & Best Regards, Jon dc9apu +rcwarship: Jon: My father use to say that when I screwed something up. Trust me I learn't how to repair something when I screwed up. The wood I am using is usually around 8% moisture and changes with the humidity. I usually vacuum for 24 hrs just to make sure it is dry so the moisture does not affect the Cactus Juice. Two things might help your vacuum drying. drop your vacuum pressure in the beginning you are freezing the water and stopping the drying process. Look up vacuum Vapor pressure on youtube. It shows the water freezing at high vacuum. Put a filter on you suction line close to the pump for protection of the pump A fuel filter with hose barbs like on a lawn mower works great. Make a vacuum catch can one to two quart filled with descant to keep the water out of your pump. Use the descant that changes color so you know when to bake the moisture out of it. An oilless vacuum pump will be more tolerant of the moisture and won't do much over 22"hg keep from freezing up then finish with the other pump. The pump I am using in this video is a oilless I use to use it for vacuum clamping and bagging. Did you get any cracking and checking between the heart and sap wood. You should do a video to get the info out there. Thanks for Watching Ron rcwarship Hi Ron, No sir, no cracking....a little warping, but very little especially when compared to letting the wood dry on it's own (brown paper bags with green shavings). I'm seriously thinking about making a video, like you say, need to get that info out there. Thanks for the heads up on the vapor pressure, explains what I was experiencing. The filter sounds good for particulates, I'll get one made. Unfortunately with the amount of water in green wood, I don't think the desiccant idea would fly. It might work with rough turned wood where most of the waste wood has been turned off the piece. Definitely going to keep that thought in mind. Thanks Again & Best Regards, Jon dc9apu +rcwarship: Jon, You might look into building a cold trap. I know they use them on Freeze drying food to trap the moisture so you don't slug the pump with water. This is an expensive one you could build one cheep. http://www.bestvaluevacs.com/coldtrap.html Never tried green wood I know the rotten wood does not crack or check I will have to try it on a dogwood tree I lost in a storm. Are you getting the water venting through the pump vent is it filling your oil reservoir to over flowing. Ron rcwarship HI Ron, The oil level slowly rises over a period of constant use for a week; suggesting that some of the water vapor is condensing in the oil, most passes through or remains in the vacuum chamber. The chamber itself will have a cup or so of water in it after a 24 hour period of vacuum drying. I'll dump the water & recharge the vacuum. I've found that it's pretty easy to drain the oil & change it at a cost of maybe $5. I've also drained the condensate out of the bottom after letting it set and the frothy oil has separated out into water/oil. Thanks & Best Regards, Jon My Etsy Store https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecycleNature?ref=hdr_shop_menu